- Actor Chris Hemsworth eats a ton of protein to build muscle for roles like "Thor," his trainer said.
- He loves steak and usually eats six to 10 meals a day with some kind of animal protein.
- Hemsworth also tried a plant-based diet while filming "Avengers: Endgame," and didn't lose any muscle.
Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth is renowned for packing on tons of muscle for leading roles like "Thor" in blockbuster Marvel movies.
He supports his beefy physique by eating meat and lots of it, Luke Zocchi, Hemsworth's longtime personal trainer and friend, told Insider in an interview coordinated by Centr, Hemsworth's wellness app.
But while filming "Avengers: Endgame," Zocchi said the actor decided to experiment with a vegan diet. While he didn't stick with it long term, due to his love of steak, he was mostly plant-based for eight weeks and maintained his impressive muscle mass, according to his trainer.
"We wanted to see if he could maintain a certain size, and were surprised by how well it worked," Zocchi said.
To stay buff, Hemsworth ate a ton of beans, but has since gone back to his more typical muscle-building diet that includes plenty of steaks.
Hemsworth eats about 4,000 calories and 300 grams of protein per day to build muscle
While training for roles in movies like "Thor," Zocchi said Hemsworth needs to eat a lot of calories to put on muscle, since he has a naturally high metabolism.
About 30-40% of those calories are in the form of protein, with the remaining calories evenly split between carbs and fat, Zocchi said.
The resulting 300 grams of protein Hemsworth eats per day is more than twice the recommended amount for most people. Dietitians recommend around .35 to .6 grams per pound of body weight for the average person, which for someone of Hemsworth's size would be approximately 77 to 132 grams of protein.
For muscle building, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends .6 to 1 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day.
Hemsworth maintained muscle as a vegan by eating beans and grains, but his trainer said it made him gassy
To see if Hemsworth could keep his muscle mass on a vegan diet, Zocchi said the actor "dove in" to plant-based eating for several weeks on the set of "Avengers: Endgame."
Hemsworth relied mainly on quinoa and legumes for protein, and had a chef that specialized in vegan cooking, according to his trainer.
While his gains didn't diminish, there was one major side effect of his brief foray into veganism: gas.
"It can be kind of aggressive on the stomach when you first start eating that way, so there were a lot of trips to the bathroom," Zocchi said.
Steak is one of Hemworth's favorite foods, and makes up a big part of his typical diet
Hemsworth ultimately didn't stick to a vegan diet because of the huge amount of plant-based food he had to eat for his goals.
Zocchi mostly recently trained Hemsworth for his role in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (the new Centr Power program offers 10 week programs for all skill levels based on his specific training and diet for the film).
His typical routine involved eating six to 10 smaller meals a day, usually involving some form of animal protein like chicken, fish, or his favorite, which is red meat.
"He loves a filet steak, just by itself, and never gets sick of it," Zocchi said. "There's something about that Hemsworth DNA, they just crave red meat."
The actor's younger brother, Liam Hemsworth, has also previously experimented with veganism, but went back to an omnivorous diet after health complications.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyktNGiqmaglaLAuLvRrZ9mrpWcrq95w6KcrWWkp66qusinnmaen6d6osLEp56eqqNif3F%2BkGZv